CHAPTER 2: Living with the Girls.

It wasn’t hard for the three of us to realize that we all wanted the same thing from our summer: to get out of the house and away from our parents. It had been a tough year for all of us, as our parents got used to being married and we all got used to living together like a family. On top of all that, we were teenagers and living under the control of our parents was infuriating.

So Jessica, Marisa and I decided that we’d convince my mom and their dad to let us live in the apartment in the city together. The apartment is where I’d lived with my mom before she married Aaron. We’d planned on selling it after we moved in with Aaron and his girls, but it ended up being too much work and we never got around to it. Mom was still planning on selling it off, but there’s no way she’d be able to get rid of it before the summer, so the girls and I were determined to live their together and get some freedom. Besides, it was my last chance to spend time with them before they left for college and I was stuck behind in my senior year of high school, and we wanted to be together as much as possible before we had to split up.

All three of us found summer jobs in the city without telling our parents, so we’d have a better chance of convincing them to let us live together. Jessie got an internship at a hip record company promoting the bands she loved. Marisa was hired to work at a shelter for abused women. And I got a job at a cool local bookstore renowned for its unusual collections--you could find lots of things there you'd never see in a chain bookstore. For once, my nerdiness paid off, and I was able to convince the owner that I knew enough about books to help her out.

With the details all finalized, we went to our parents with our proposal.